Integrated fuse and wire



Dec. 24, 1968 A. GROBER 3, 1

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United States Patent 3,418,616 INTEGRATED FUSE AND WIRE Abraham Grober, Providence, R.I., assignor to Victor Electric Wire & Cable Corp., Coventry, R.I., a corporation of Rhode Island Original application Mar. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 439,680, now Patent No. 3,322,919, dated May 30, 1967. Divided and this application Mar. 31, 1967, Ser. No. 655,253

3 Claims. (Cl. 337-290) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electric cable comprising one or more conductors with a fuse built into said cable and forming an integral part thereof, said fuse being embedded within said cable whereby the cable is of the throw-away variety once the fuse has been destroyed.

This application is a division of application Ser. No. 439,680, filed Mar. 15, 1965, now Patent No. 3,322,919, issued May 30, 1967.

The present invention relates generally to the electrical art and is more particularly concerned with the provision of a novel and improved fuse arrangement for insulated electric wires, cords, cables and the like.

A primary object of this invention is the provision of a novel and improved fuse arrangement for insulated electric wires, cords and the like wherein the fuse is integrated with the wire or cord and actually forms a part thereof.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of an integrated fuse and wire assembly wherein the fuse is covered by a casing that is molded onto the wire insulation.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an integrated fuse and wire assembly that not only promotes greater safety in use, but which also automatically protects equipment, appliances and the like from damage normally caused by an oversupply of electric current thereto.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of an integrated fuse and wire assembly so constructed as to maintain the integrated fuse of minimum size, thus not unduly restricting the flexibility and maneuverability of the wire and at the same time not detracting from the appearance of the wire.

A further object of the instant invention is the provision of an integrated fuse and wire assembly of the character above described that is economically feasible to manufacture sufficiently so that the assembly is of the throw-away type after the fuse has been destroyed.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an integrated fuse and wire assembly constructed in accordance with the instant invention, with a portion being broken away for purposes of illustration;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a slightly modified integrated fuse;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a further modified form of the fuse per se;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a further modification thereof;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of still another modified form thereof.

It has been found desirable to provide a fuse that is ice integrated or built-in with an electric wire or cord, whereby the wire or cord assembly per se will insure that nothing over a maximum predetermined amount of current passes therethrough. It will be understood that such an integrated fuse and wire assembly is highly advantageous for use in connection with a wide variety of electrical appliances, equipment and the like, such as, for example, transistorized television sets. Depending upon the particular use to which the wire or cord is to be applied, the desired fuse rating is predetermined, and then the proper fuse corresponding to this rating is integrated with the wire or cable, in a manner now to be described.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a wire or cable 10 comprising a pair of insulated conductors 12 and 14 which may be adhered to each other in parallel disposition, as is well known in the art. More specifically, the insulation for the conductors 12 and 14 may be of any suitable electrical insulating material, although, for the purposes of this invention, a vinyl insulation is preferred. The wire 10 may have afiixed to one end thereof a conventional male plug 15, all in a manner well known in the art.

A portion of the wire 10 is covered by a casing 16 also constructed of any suitable electrical insulating material, such as vinyl. As shown in FIG. 1, the casing 16 is of elongated cylindrical configuration, having rounded ends as at 18 and hub portions 20 at opposite ends there of in surrounding relation to the wire 10 and its insulated conductors 12 and 14. The insulated conductor 12 extends completely and continuously through the solid casing 16 whereas the insulated conductor 14 terminates adjacent opposite ends of the casing as at 22, the said terminal ends being bared so that a portion of the wire per se 24 is exposed at each of these terminals. The exposed terminals of wire 24 are interconnected by a fuse which may be copper wire or wire of any other suitable alloy, said wire being illustrated at 26. As will be seen, the wire 26 is wound around the adjacent conductor 12, and it will be understood that the wire 26 is specifically selected so as to achieve the desired fuse rating.

Depending upon the rating of fuse wire 26, it will readily be seen that any amount of current surpassing that rating that may be fed through wire 10 will burn out the fuse wire 26, thus automatically interrupting the flow of current through the wire 10. As hereinbefore stated, this construction is applicable to any desired voltage rating and need not necessarily be associated with plug-in types of cords as illustrated in FIG. 1. It will also be understood that in the manufacture of the integrated fuse and wire assembly illustrated in FIG. 1, the conductor 14 is first cut as at 22 and then the bared wire terminals 24 are interconnected by winding the fuse wire 26 around the adjacent conductor 12. After this has been done, the casing 16 is applied in position, and preferably the casing, which, as aforedescribed, is of electrical insulating material and also of heat resistant material, is molded right on to the insulated covering for conductors 12 and 14. Thus, if the insulation for the conductors 12 and 14 is vinyl, then the casing 12 may also be vinyl in order to facilitate a good integral bond between the casing 16 and the wire 10. It will be seen that in this construction when the fuse 26 becomes destroyed, such as by being subjected to an oversupply of current, the wire 10 is simply thrown away and replaced by a completely new cord and integrated fuse.

FIGS. 2 through 5 illustrate various modifications of the integrated fuse and wire assembly described supra. Thus, in FIG. 2 the construction is identical to the abovedescribed assembly illustrated in FIG. 1 with the exception of the fact that the fuse wire 28, instead of being wound around the adjacent conductor, extends in a straight path between the wire terminals 24. It will be 3 understood that although in FIGS. 1 through 5 the wire is illustrated as comprising twin parallel conductors 12 and 14, Wire comprising a single insulated conductor is equally adaptable to the instant invention, as is wire comprising more than two conductors. Where the wire 10 comprises more than a single conductor, a plurality of fuses may be employed, and in FIG. 3 an assembly similar to that shown and described in connection with FIG. 2 is illustrated, the only difference being that both conductors terminate in the casing 16 and both have their terminal ends 24 interconnected by fuses 30 in parallel with each other. In addition to having a plurality of fuses in parallel, as illustrated in FIG. 3, it is equally possible, if desired, to have a plurality of fuses in series in one conductor (not shown).

In FIG. 4, a fuse arrangement generally similar to that described and illustrated in connection with FIG. 1 is shown, except that both conductors 12 and 14 are provided with fuses. In this arrangement, it is desirable to elongate the casing as at 32 so that the spaces 34 between the terminal ends 24 of one conductor may be staggered with respect to the space 34 between the terminal ends of the other conductor. This enables the fuse wires 36 to be wound around the other conductor without interference with each other. FIG. 5 illustrates the same general type of arrangement as that shown in FIG. 4, except that the fuses are straight wires, as at 38, rather than being wound around the adjacent conductor.

It will be understood that in all forms of my invention illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the fuse is embedded in the casing which is preferably injection molded right onto the wire 10. Thus, as aforedescribed, this assembly is of the throw-away variety since, once the fuse has been burnt out, it is highly impractical to consider replacing it with another fuse.

While there is shown and described herein certain specific structure embodying the invention, it will be manifest to those skilled in the art that various modifications and rearrangementsof the parts may be made without inventive concept and that the same is not limited to the particular forms herein shown and described except insofar as indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an electric cable comprising a plurality of insulated conductors, a solid casing constructed of electrical and heat insulating material surrounding a portion of said cable, one of said conductors terminating within said casing adjacent opposite ends thereof, and a fuse in said casing interconnecting the aforesaid terminal ends of said one conductor, said fuse consisting of a wire, said fuse wire being wound around the adjacent insulated conductor.

2. In an electric cable comprising a pair of insulated conductors, a solid casing constructed of electrical and heat insulating material surrounding a portion of said cable, said conductors both having terminal ends within said casing with the space betweenthe terminal ends of one conductor being staggered with respect to the space between the terminal ends of the other conductor, and fuses interconnecting the aforesaid terminal ends of both conductors.

3. The cable of claim 2 further characterized in that said fuses comprise wires, each fuse wire being Wound around the adjacent insulated conductor.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,798,859 3/1931 Woodruff 200115.5 1,798,860 3/1931 Woodruff 200113.3 2,282,849 5/1942 Beyer 200113.3 3,218,414 11/1965 Swain et a1. 200' BERNARD A. GILHEANY, Primary Examiner.

H. B. GILSON, Assistant Examiner. 

